‘Pothole’ as big as a truck gives man fractured hands and hip

Bangalore Mirror Bureau | Jan 10, 2019, 06.00 AM IST

The humongous ‘pothole’ on Borewell Road in Ramago ndanahalli which brought down Girish N on Monday

By Reya Mehrotra

The New Year did not begin on a good note for 27-year-old Girish N. On January 7, when Girish set out on his two-wheeler at 7 pm to submit his documents for completing the formalities at a new place of work, he didn’t expect to have a pothole-related accident. Girish was driving to the office located in Sigma Tech Park in Whitefield, following his friend Gautham Reddy in his car, since he did not know the location. Reddy had also referred him to the company.

All was going smoothly until they reached near the tech park, on Ramagondanahalli Road. Gautham suddenly saw Girish falling off from his two-wheeler,in his rear view mirror. Gautham, who rushed him to the hospital says, “I saw him collapse as he was following me. I realised he had lost his balance and fallen due to a huge pothole that he had not noticed. I immediately stopped. People living nearby rushed to Girish’s help. We took him to the nearest hospital, Pushpa Nursing Home, in an auto. Since he was severely injured, the doctors advised us to take him to another hospital. We shifted him to Columbia Asia Hospital. He gained consciousness at around 1 am and was discharged the next day on January 8.”

Girish, a resident of Horamavu, who fractured both his hands, was bleeding severely from his right hip. He has been advised complete bed rest for one month. “My face has scratches all over. It was dark so I could not see the pothole. I was not speeding. My speed was 40 kmph. After I fell, I don’t remember what happened until I gained consciousness after midnight. My date of joining the new place of work has been delayed but my new colleagues visited me after hearing about my accident,” said Girish.

He adds, “It is a main road that remains busy throughout the day. It is surprising that it was left in this condition. It could have been a major accident. I also have pain in my ear and I can’t swallow anything right now. I can’t use either of my hands for a month.”

Girish’s family filed a police complaint against the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on January 8 following which the police came to the spot and spoke to the BBMP contractors working at the site. When BM asked BBMP why they had left the pothole unrepaired, Ramakrishna Reddy, Executive Engineer BBMP, said, “The BBMP has been working on that stretch but it was a manhole, which had been dug by BWSSB and had to be covered by them. The manhole has been covered on January 9 by the BWSSB after the accident and the complaint.” KV Jagadeesh, DCP Traffic East, says, “The complaint has been filed. I have instructed my ACPs to investigate the case.”